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Neuropilin 1 controls cardiovascular development through neural crest cells
Author(s) -
Ruhrberg Christiana,
Maden Charlotte,
Schwarz Quenten
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.302.3
Subject(s) - neural crest , dorsal aorta , neuropilin 1 , anatomy , biology , embryonic stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , aorta , neuroscience , stem cell , medicine , embryo , cancer research , vascular endothelial growth factor , vegf receptors , biochemistry , haematopoiesis , gene
Neural crest cells (NCCs) are highly motile embryonic stem cells that delaminate from the neural tube early in embryogenesis and give rise to several cell types in the cardiovasculature. In particular, they form the pericytes that associate with head vessels, the smooth muscle cells on the pharyngeal arch arteries and the sympathetic neurons that innervate the dorsal aorta and great arteries. Here we show that NRP1 controls NCC differentiation into smooth muscle cells on pharyngeal arch arteries and thereby promotes their remodelling into a functional arteriovenous system. Moreover, NRP1 signalling restricts NCC migration alongside intersomitic blood vessels to promote the association of sympathetic NCCs with the dorsal aorta. Accordingly, NRP1 is essential for cardiovasculature function by controlling both the morphogenesis of the great arteries and their subsequent innervation. This work was funded by the UK Medical Research Council.